Ambidirectional dominance

Ambidirectional dominance occurs in a situation where multiple genes influence a phenotype and dominance is in different directions depending on the gene. For example, for gene A increased height is dominant, while for gene B decreased height is dominant. The opposite situation, where all genes show dominance in the same direction, is called directional dominance.^[1] In the same example, for both genes A and B increased height is dominant. According to Broadhurst, ambidirectional dominance is the result of stabilising selection in the evolutionary past.^[1] Ambidirectional dominance has been found for exploratory behaviours in mice^[2][3][4] and paradise fish.^[5]

References

1. Broadhurst, PL; Jinks, JL (1974). "What genetical architecture can tell us about the natural selection of behavioural traits". In van Abeelen, JHF (ed.). The Genetics of Behaviour. Amsterdam: North Holland. pp. 43–63. ISBN 0-7204-7137-0. OCLC 1365968.
2. Crusio WE; van Abeelen JH (February 1986). "The genetic architecture of behavioural responses to novelty in mice". Heredity. 56 (1): 55–63. doi:10.1038/hdy.1986.8. PMID 3943979.
3. Crusio WE, Schwegler H, van Abeelen JH (February 1989). "Behavioral responses to novelty and structural variation of the hippocampus in mice. I. Quantitative-genetic analysis of behavior in the open-field". Behavioural Brain Research. 32 (1): 75–80. doi:10.1016/S0166-4328(89)80074-9. PMID 2930636. S2CID 675083.
4. Crusio WE (November 2001). "Genetic dissection of mouse exploratory behaviour". Behavioural Brain Research. 125 (1–2): 127–32. doi:10.1016/S0166-4328(01)00280-7. PMID 11682103. S2CID 28031277.
5. Gerlai R; Crusio WE; Csányi V (July 1990). "Inheritance of species-specific behaviors in the paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis): a diallel study". Behavior Genetics. 20 (4): 487–98. doi:10.1007/BF01067715. PMID 2256892. S2CID 22641118.